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Gibraltar Open has many side events. One of them is Pair Blitz. Actually, organizers try to make this tournament as social as possible; that's why they have Pair Blitz instead of traditional individual blitz tournament.
Pair Blitz is a 6-rounds event with 4+4 time control. Time control is much slower than classical 3+2, but in pair matches you need more time, so it looks logical. Every team has to make moves alternatively, like in table tennis. Just 6 rounds doesn't allow you to make any mistake; with around 40-50 pairs 5/6 points probably not enough for first place.
A very important restriction of this event: the average rating must be not higher than 2300, so it's a very difficult tournament for strong GMs. For example, 2700 player has to play with somebody around 1900. I believe that 2300*2 is usually better than 2700+1900 combination.
I played in this tournament 2 years ago with Michael Dougherty. We didn't got any real chance to win something and finished with 3.5/6. Probably, our playing style was completely different.
This year I was the only(!) Canadian and initially had no plans to participate in this competition. A few hours before the start of the blitz, after my regular game was finished, I was approached by a very young Indian player: "Do you want to play with me in this Pair Blitz?"
My original plan was to try to win this tournament one day with Mark, but Mark was not there. This Indian guy was just 12-years old boy with rating of 2321 and performance of 2400+ in Gibraltar. So maybe it's an opportunity? I like to play with juniors, although in Toronto it costs me a lot of rating points. After some 10 minutes hesitation I told my new friend Raunak Sadhwani that we will be playing together.
He got very excited and asked me a lot of questions, like: do I have any IM norms? what was my top rating? where I was born?...Just a classical Indian prodigy, this country has a lot of them.
Before the start, I tried to explain to him about my chess style and how we can improve our chances in this tournament. So I gave him a few advises, for example:
1. Play e5 after e4. Play something simple (no Benoni, no KID) after d4.
2. Don't start with too complicated tactics, 2-3 moves is OK.
3. Trade as much as you can, but don't go to dead draw endgame.
4. Don't offer/accept the draw in equal position, we must play for a win every game.
As a big fan of Toronto Raptors, I called our team "The North". Tournament attracted a record number of almost 50 pairs. A few GM was playing, including N.Short.
After some easy win in 1st round, we drew our next game, which lasted more than 170 moves. We tried to win an endgame 2R + white pawn on f3 vs lonely Q. Maybe computer could do it, but it was impossible for us.
After another win in round 3, we got a very difficult position with white against French in round 4. Sure, it was my mistake: I forgot to tell to my young friend that he should capture on d5. He played Nd2 instead and after Nf6 I was forced to play e5. My knowledge in this line was close to zero, and we got a bad endgame with B+N against 2B. Our dark square bishop was pretty poor. I have to say that for 12-years old kid my partner was great in endgame. Somehow we won a pawn and, after a long fight, a game.
Another win in 5th round moved us with 4.5/5 on clear second place. A mixed team (Women + Man) from Norway had 5, many teams had 4 points. Obviously, we got paired against the leader. In this situation my friend ask me: "Look, they are great. They win every game. I think, we should offer a draw and share 2nd place."
I was surprised, but answered that we have to play for a win, we are better and have a reasonable chances to win the entire tournament. He walked around for 5 minutes and returned to me: "Yes, you are right. We'll play for a win".
The game itself was relatively easy. We won a minor piece in the middlegame. In totally winning position I blunder an exchange for a pawn, but it was too little too late. In endgame R+5 pawns vs B+N+6 pawns our opponents made an illegal move. By new FIDE rules, it doesn't lose the game, instead we just get extra time. While waiting for the arbiter to adjust the clock, our opponents evaluated the position and resigned.
We won the tournament with 5.5/6. The first prize was 100 GBP (around 175 CAD) each player.
My friend Raunak Sadhwani achieved a IM norm in Gibraltar. Sure, we will be GM sooner or later (likely, sooner). I will be rooting for him.
Pair Blitz is a 6-rounds event with 4+4 time control. Time control is much slower than classical 3+2, but in pair matches you need more time, so it looks logical. Every team has to make moves alternatively, like in table tennis. Just 6 rounds doesn't allow you to make any mistake; with around 40-50 pairs 5/6 points probably not enough for first place.
A very important restriction of this event: the average rating must be not higher than 2300, so it's a very difficult tournament for strong GMs. For example, 2700 player has to play with somebody around 1900. I believe that 2300*2 is usually better than 2700+1900 combination.
I played in this tournament 2 years ago with Michael Dougherty. We didn't got any real chance to win something and finished with 3.5/6. Probably, our playing style was completely different.
This year I was the only(!) Canadian and initially had no plans to participate in this competition. A few hours before the start of the blitz, after my regular game was finished, I was approached by a very young Indian player: "Do you want to play with me in this Pair Blitz?"
My original plan was to try to win this tournament one day with Mark, but Mark was not there. This Indian guy was just 12-years old boy with rating of 2321 and performance of 2400+ in Gibraltar. So maybe it's an opportunity? I like to play with juniors, although in Toronto it costs me a lot of rating points. After some 10 minutes hesitation I told my new friend Raunak Sadhwani that we will be playing together.
He got very excited and asked me a lot of questions, like: do I have any IM norms? what was my top rating? where I was born?...Just a classical Indian prodigy, this country has a lot of them.
Before the start, I tried to explain to him about my chess style and how we can improve our chances in this tournament. So I gave him a few advises, for example:
1. Play e5 after e4. Play something simple (no Benoni, no KID) after d4.
2. Don't start with too complicated tactics, 2-3 moves is OK.
3. Trade as much as you can, but don't go to dead draw endgame.
4. Don't offer/accept the draw in equal position, we must play for a win every game.
As a big fan of Toronto Raptors, I called our team "The North". Tournament attracted a record number of almost 50 pairs. A few GM was playing, including N.Short.
After some easy win in 1st round, we drew our next game, which lasted more than 170 moves. We tried to win an endgame 2R + white pawn on f3 vs lonely Q. Maybe computer could do it, but it was impossible for us.
After another win in round 3, we got a very difficult position with white against French in round 4. Sure, it was my mistake: I forgot to tell to my young friend that he should capture on d5. He played Nd2 instead and after Nf6 I was forced to play e5. My knowledge in this line was close to zero, and we got a bad endgame with B+N against 2B. Our dark square bishop was pretty poor. I have to say that for 12-years old kid my partner was great in endgame. Somehow we won a pawn and, after a long fight, a game.
Another win in 5th round moved us with 4.5/5 on clear second place. A mixed team (Women + Man) from Norway had 5, many teams had 4 points. Obviously, we got paired against the leader. In this situation my friend ask me: "Look, they are great. They win every game. I think, we should offer a draw and share 2nd place."
I was surprised, but answered that we have to play for a win, we are better and have a reasonable chances to win the entire tournament. He walked around for 5 minutes and returned to me: "Yes, you are right. We'll play for a win".
The game itself was relatively easy. We won a minor piece in the middlegame. In totally winning position I blunder an exchange for a pawn, but it was too little too late. In endgame R+5 pawns vs B+N+6 pawns our opponents made an illegal move. By new FIDE rules, it doesn't lose the game, instead we just get extra time. While waiting for the arbiter to adjust the clock, our opponents evaluated the position and resigned.
We won the tournament with 5.5/6. The first prize was 100 GBP (around 175 CAD) each player.
My friend Raunak Sadhwani achieved a IM norm in Gibraltar. Sure, we will be GM sooner or later (likely, sooner). I will be rooting for him.
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